The country could record more than 9,000 Covid-19 cases daily by the end of September, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the figure was based on their latest projection amid the resumption of face-to-face classes.
“The probability is there. Based on our projections, which were already updated because of the opening of classes, maaaring tumaas hanggang 9,000 daily cases dito sa bansa pagdating ng end of September hanggang Oktubre (daily cases may increase to up to 9,000 here in the country by the end of September to October),” said Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, Aug. 26.
This projection is based on the higher mobility of the population currently, said Vergeire.
“Ngayon nag umpisa ang klase dahil mas maraming lumalabas, plus yung mga magulang na naghahatid pa sa mga bata, talagang nakita natin na tumaas ang (Now that the classes have resumed, plus the parents are fetching their children, we have really seen an increase in) mobility patterns compared to the previous weeks,” she said.
This projection may happen if the “assumptions” will be met such as higher mobility coupled with low adherence to health protocols and low vaccination rate.
“Gusto ko lang ipaalam sa ating mga kababayan (I just want to tell to our citizens), these are projections. Ang projections maaaring mangyari, maaaring hindi mangyari. Depende kung matutupad yung mga nilagay natin sa assumptions (The projections may happen or may not. It depends whether the assumptions will be met),” she said.
Currently, the country’s average number of Covid-19 cases per day is at 3,231.
“This is 14 percent lower than the previous week. The previous week’s average cases nationally was 3,755,” said Vergeire.
Variants
In a related development, the DOH reported more than 100 new cases of Omicron subvariants.
The DOH said that it recorded 139 new BA.5 subvariant cases, six BA.4, and one case of BA.2.12.1.
Based on the latest genome sequencing result, all regions have recorded cases of BA.5 except Caraga.
The new BA.4 cases were found in the Bicol region (3 cases), Davao region (one case), and Soccsksargen (two cases). On the other hand, the newly detected BA.2.12.1 case was found in the Ilocos region.